_The False Teachers and their Judgment_. “Yet there were also false prophets in the ancient community, just as among you there will be false teachers. They will not hesitate to introduce alongside the truth corrupting heresies, even denying their Redeemer, and bringing on themselves swift destructio... [ Continue Reading ]
ψευδοπροφῆται ἐν τῷ λαῷ. ἐν τῷ λαῷ is used for the chosen people in LXX. ψευδοπροφῆται. A class of False Prophets is frequently mentioned in the O.T. In the earlier ages it is not suggested that there was conscious deceit on the part of the prophet. His prophecy is false, if it is proved so by the e... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀσελγείαις. are “acts of lasciviousness”. ὁδὸς τῆς ἀληθείας. ἀληθεία contains the root-idea of “genuineness”. It combines the ideas of the knowledge of God and His purposes in Christ; and of the human obligation to right living that springs from it. “He that doeth truth cometh to the light.” The wri... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν is causal. πλεονεξίᾳ = “covetousness”. _Cf._ Luke 12:15. πλαστοῖς : here only in N.T., “manufactured,” “feigned,” “artificial”. ἐμπορεύσονται Originally used in intrans. sense = “go a-trading”. _Cf._ James 4:13. Then = “import,” in trans. sense. Here = “make gain of,” “exploit”. _Cf._ 2 Corinthia... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰ γὰρ ὁ θεός … introducing a series of conditional sentences. The apodosis is found in οἶδεν κύριος … of 2 Peter 2:9. σειραῖς. No doubt a rendering of δεσμοῖς in Jude 1:6, agreeably to the practice of this writer, who is somewhat fond of using rarer words, instead of the more commonplace. σειρά usu... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Peter 2:4-10 _a_. _A historical illustration of the Divine judgment on the wicked, and care of the righteous_. “God spared not angels who sinned, but having cast them into Tartarus, gave them over to chains of darkness, reserving them for judgment. He spared not the ancient world, but guarded Noah... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀρχαίου κόσμου. The article is omitted, which is not a mark of illiteracy. This chapter is prophetic in form, and the omission of the article is characteristic of that style. _Cf._ Job 3:10; Judges 5:5. (See Mayor, _Ed._ xxxiv. xxxv.). δικαιοσύνης κήρυκα. κηρ. in this sense is used in N.T. only here... [ Continue Reading ]
πόλεις Σοδ. καὶ Γομορρ. Not genitive of apposition, but cities of the district, where Sodom and Gomorrah were situated. _cf._ Jude 1:7. Σ. καὶ Γ. καὶ αἱ περὶ αὐτὰς πόλεις καταστροφῇ κατέκρινεν. καταστροφῇ is dative of instrument, “condemned them by overthrow”. Genesis 19:24-25 seems to imply some fu... [ Continue Reading ]
καταπονούμενον, the word applied to the condition of the slave whom Moses delivered, Acts 7:24. It implies outward discomfort. ἀθέσμων. _Cf._ 2 Peter 3:17, “a stronger word than ἄνομος, because θεσμός is used especially of a divine ordinance, a fundamental law” (Mayor).... [ Continue Reading ]
βλέμματι γὰρ καὶ ἀκοῇ. Two interpretations are possible (1) Instrumental dative after ἐβασάνιζεν. “He vexed his righteous soul by what he saw and heard.” The objections are (_a_) the long interval that separates βλ. κ. τ. λ. from ἐβασάνιζεν, (_b_) that βλέμμα is never elsewhere used of the thing see... [ Continue Reading ]
οἶδεν Κύριος, κ. τ. λ. Apodosis to protasis begun in 2 Peter 2:4. πειρασμοῦ. See Mayor's note on James 1:2. The idea here is primarily of those surroundings that try a man's fidelity and integrity, and not of the inward inducement to sin, arising from the desires. Both Noah and Lot were in the midst... [ Continue Reading ]
_a_. μάλιστα δὲ τοὺς ὀπίσω σαρκὸς … πορευομένους, “especially those who follow the flesh as their leader”. _Cf._ Matthew 4:19; 1 Timothy 5:15. In Isaiah 65:2 we have πορευομένοις … ὀπίσω τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν. The writer now passes from the sin of Sodom to the sin of the Libertines. ἐπιθυμίᾳ μιασμοῦ. ἐ... [ Continue Reading ]
ὅπου = “whereas”. The interpretation of this verse turns on the meaning of κατʼ αὐτῶν. Does it refer to the false teachers, or to a distinction between two sets of angels, which finds an illustration in the contest between Michael and Satan for the body of Moses? (Jude 1:9). In the latter case κατʼ... [ Continue Reading ]
γεγεννημένα φυσικὰ “born creatures of instinct”. Instinct is here distinguished from the rational centres of thought and judgment. They are ἄλογα ζῷα. Their chief characteristic is that they are “alive,” and have no sense of the moral issues of life. Like animals, they exist εἰς ἅλωσιν καὶ φθοράν. ἐ... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀδικούμενοι μισθὸν ἀδικίας (_cf._ 2 Peter 2:12). This playing upon words is characteristic of 2 Peter, ἀδικεῖν has usually the sense of “doing harm to” (_cf._ Acts 25:10; Galatians 4:12). Here it would seem to mean “being defrauded of the wages of fraud,” or “being done out of the wages of wrong-doi... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀκαταπαύστους ἀμαρτίας. For use of genitive with this verb, _cf._ 1 Peter 4:1. See Grammatical Note. δελεάζοντες. _Cf._ 2 Peter 2:18 and Mayor's note on James 1:14, “entice or catch by a bait”. κατάρας τέκνα. _Cf._ τέκνα ὑπακοῆς, 1 Peter 1:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
τῇ ὁδῷ τοῦ Βαλαὰμ. The comparison of the conduct of the False Teachers to that of Balaam is significant as determining their character and motive (see Introduction, pp. 115 ff.). The writer of 2 Peter takes the miraculous narrative in Numbers 22:21-35 literally. It is no disparagement of the value o... [ Continue Reading ]
_Example of Balaam_. “They have left the straight way and wandered from it, having followed the way of Balaam, who loved the ways of wickedness, and was rebuked for his transgression, when a dumb ass spoke with a man's voice, and forbade the infatuation of the prophet.”... [ Continue Reading ]
ἔλεγξιν δὲ ἔσχεν, a periphrasis for the passive of ἐλέγχω, = “was rebuked”. ἰδίας παρανομίας, emphatic, “his own transgression”. Two interpretations of ἰδίας are possible. (1) The παρανομ. is a characteristic trait in Balaam (Keil. Weiss). (2) As prophet, Belaam was expected to do and teach God's la... [ Continue Reading ]
πηγαὶ … ἐλαυνόμεναι. It is interesting to compare the expressions in 2 Peter here with Jude 1:12. It would appear as though he had felt that νεφέλαι ἄνυδροι was a contradiction in terms, and instead he substituted πηγαὶ. λαίλαπος is a strong expression = “gale,” a “storm of wind”. _Cf._ Mark 4:37; L... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Libertines are themselves slaves_. “They are like waterless wells, and mists that the wind disperses. For them is reserved the fate of gloomy darkness. They utter ponderous nothings, and allure through their lusts those who were just escaping from the temptations of heathen life. Promising free... [ Continue Reading ]
ὑπέρογκα. _Cf._ Jude 1:16. No doubt the reference is to the use of Gnostic terms. ματαιότης, used specially of moral insincerity. _Cf._ ματαίας ἀναστροφῆς, “heartless conduct,” 1 Peter 1:18. There is no corresponding reality behind their words. σαρκὸς, to be taken with ἀσελγείαις, which is in apposi... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐλευθερίαν. Doubtless that Antinomianism is indicated to which the doctrine of Grace has ever been open. _Cf._ Galatians 5:13. It arises from the ever-recurring confusion of liberty and license. The training of conscience is contemporaneous with the growth of Christian character. The Pauline teachin... [ Continue Reading ]
Here, again, γὰρ loosely introduces the subject of the victims allured by the false teachers away from their former faith. τὰ μιάσματα τοῦ κόσμου. (Leviticus 7:8, Jer. 39:34), occurs only here in N.T. In LXX the word seems to have a technical religious sense, the profanation of flesh by ordinary use... [ Continue Reading ]
_The consequences of falling away_. “The case of their victims is a serious one. They have escaped from the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and are once more entangled and worsted by these. Their last state becomes worse than the first. It were better for them not to h... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁδὸν τῆς δικαιοσύνης. Also called “the way of truth,” 2 Peter 2:2, “the straight way,” 2 Peter 2:15. ἐντολῆς. Elsewhere in N.T. the singular is used to mean a particular precept. _Cf._ Romans 7:12; 1 Timothy 6:14. It is characteristic of this writer to emphasise the aspect of Christianity, not only... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸ τῆς ἀληθοῦς παροιμίας : “the content of the true proverb” has been “verified,” or “realised” in their case. The first proverb is found in Proverbs 26:11. The second is apparently not derived from a Hebrew source. Both are quoted familiarly in an abbreviated form (_cf._ WM. p. 443). The interpreta... [ Continue Reading ]